Scuttle-ladder



(No Model.) 2 Shets-Sheet 1.

R.-M POWERS. SGUTTLE LADDER.

No. 512322. PatentedJan. 9,1894.

' 4 2 sheets-Sheet 2.

R. M. POWERS.

(No Model.)

SGUTTLE LADDER.

Patented Jan. 9, 1894.

UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD M. POWERS, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

SCUTTL E-LADDER.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,322, dated January9, 1894. Application filed April 24:, 1893. Serial No.47l.541. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, RICHARD M. Pownas, a citizen of the United States,residin g at Norwich, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new On the 26. day of June, 1891,Letters Patent` No. &53,294 were issu'd to me for certain improvementsin ladders especially adapted for use with scuttles in houses having lowattics, the laddersbeingcounter-balanced by weights in such manner thatthey may be readily pushed upward through the Scuttle, into the attic,and stored there when not required for use. In one form of my invention,therein illustrated and described, the ladder is made of two partshinged together in such manner that when the ladder ispassed upwardthrough 'the Scuttle it doubles uponitself and may thus be stowed awayin much less space than a ladder of the same length with solid sides. Mypresent nvention has for its object to 'provide a substitute for theheavy weights required in my said earlier patent and also to provide alooking device by means of which the two sections of the ladder aresecurely fastened together When in use and become practically anordinary ladder.

, My present improvements are clearly shown in the annexed drawings,Figure l being a side View of the two-part ladder embodying a portion ofmy invention, and also showing properly connected with said ladder apulleyblock of peculiar Construction which is substituted for the weightof my earlier form. Fig. 2 is a front view of the hinged portions of theladder showing, in section, the floor and scuttle-hole. Figs. 3 and 4illustrate,

considerably enlarged, those portions of the ladder adjacent to thehinge, having attached thereto the looking device which forms aparticular feature of my present invention. In Fig. 3 the ladder isshown, as in the act of passing upward through the Scuttle hole, themovable looking section being shown as just about to engage a stud 70secured within the scuttle by means of which the locking parts aredisengaged to allow the ladder to double upon itself after passingupward. In Fig. 4: the ladder is shown as passing downward through theScuttle, the tail of the movable looking section being shown as justabout to engage said stud to Swing said section into its normal (closed)position. Fig. 5 is an edge View of said looking parts looking towardthe left hand side of Fig. 3. Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged views of myimproved pulleyblock, with the front case removed, and Figs. 8 and 9 aredetached views of two levers that form elementary features of saidpulley block.

In these drawings the letters a and b indicate two floors of a dwelling,the latter named floor having a scuttle hole b' through which access ishad to the attic above.

c-c' indicate the two sections of my improved ladder, hinged at c andadapted to fold as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Secured to the upper end of ladder section c' is a rope or cable d whichpasses upward, through a pulley block e Secured to a rafter, or othersuitable rigid part of the roof and thence downward to a-point below theScuttle opening Where it may be easily grasped by a person standing uponfloor a. When the free 80 end of said rope is grasped, and drawndownward, the ladder is drawn Upward, through the Scuttle hole b' and sosoon as the -hinges of the ladder pass through said hole, the uppersection c folds back as shown in dotted lines.

I find in practice that, When the two-part ladder is simply hinged, butnot otherwise fastened, the upper section c'(by reason of its weight,and also because of the fact that the ladder stands inclined against theside of the Scuttle), begins to break over before the lower section iscarried upward far enough to enter the scuttle-hole and, in consequence,the lower section is crowded forcibly to the opposite side of the holeand, unless carefully guided, catches under the casing of the scuttle.To avoid this result I have nowprovideda simple looking device, shown inFigs. 1 to 5, by

means of which the two ladder sections are held in alignnent with eachother until the lower section enters the scuttle hole. Said lookingdevices are then disengaged and the upper ladder section c is permittedto fold over, as above stated. These looking devices consist of twometallic pieces g-g', the forner being fixedly secured to the edge ofthe lower ladder section, opposite the hinge 0 and provided with ahook-shaped upper end that slightly overlaps the end of the upper laddersection. The companion looking piece g' is pivotally secured to theupper ladder section, by a screw h and its lower end is formed With ahood that may swing under, and interlock with, the hook of the fixedpiece g. When the parts thus Swing together a lug g on piece g' servesas a stop to prevent the hook of said piece g' from swinging too far.One edge of piece g' is forned with two` cam surfaces g and g'* thatextend laterally heyond'the side of the ladder and which may engage, andbe moved by, a stud 70 secured to the casing of the scuttle hole whentheladder is drawn up through said scuttle. The ofice of the stud k isto unlock the pieces g--g', as the ladder is drawn upward, and lock themtogether again as the ladder is drawn down: ward for use. It Will benoticed that the lower cam 9 projects laterally, beyond the upper cam gwhen the pieces g-.-g' are locked together as seen in Fig. 3, in fulllines. When the ladder moves upward cam g passes stud Ic, withouttouching it, but cam g being longer, is met, and checked, by said studand, as a' result, piece g' is rocked on its pivot into the positionshown in full lines in Fig.'4,thus

- disengaging the hooked ends of the looking pieces and permitting theladder to fold back, as in dotted lines in Fig. 1. iVhen' theladderisdrawn downward through thescuttle, the cam g engages stud k (seeFig. 4), just at the time or slightly after the two ladder sections arebrought into alignment, and the piece g' is thusswung back to its normalposition and the hooked ends are again interlocked. The describedlooking and unlocking Operations are automatically performed as theladder passes upward and downward through the scuttle-hole.

During the Operations of raising and lowering the ladder the operatorgrasps one of the lower steps or rungs to steady and guide the ladder asit passes through the scuttle.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have illustrated the pulley-block which, incombination with my described ladder improvements, forms an importantfeature of my invention. The operative parts of said block are supportedin a housing formed of front and rear plates m connected by rivets m', mand m the front plate being removed in said Figs. 6 and 7 to expose theinterior parts. n denotes a scored pulley, or sheave, journaled upon anaxial shaft n' and having secured to its side a ratchet disk n whoseteeth are engaged by a pawl 0 forminga part of alevr o' fulcrumed on therivet m'. The arm of lever o' that bears the pawl is extended as at 0andconnected to one end of a spring p whose other end is secured to theplate m in such manner that the spring seeks constantly to hold the pawlo in looking engagement with the teeth of disk 11 The opposite end ofthe lever 0' is formed with an eye 0 which, when the pawl is in meshwith the ratchet teeth, is set to one side of vertical algnment with thefulcrum of said lever so that when a rope d is passed around pulley 72and through said eye, the rope is carried away from the pulley, as seenat the right hand side ot' Fig. 6. The lower ladder section is securedto the left hand portion of therope seen in Figs. 6 and 7, these'figuresbeing the opposite of the pulley of Fig. 1. That portion of the ropethat extends through eye 0 is free to be grasped and drawn downward whenit is desired to, pull up the ladder. When said free portion is graspedand pulled downward, the resisting weight of the ladder causes the ropeto straighten and thus draw the eye 0 toward the pulley n, thusthi-owing the pawl out of meshmith the teeth of disk m?. Continued pullon the rope then draws the ladder, upward until the. desired height isreached when the rope is released and the pawl is drawn, by spring p,into meshwith the teeth again to prevent the backward rotation of pulleyn. To prevent rope d from slipping around on said pulley, and thusallowing the ladder to fall'through the souttle, I provide a clampinglever s that is pivoted on rivet m and whose tree end rests upon therope near the top of the pulley. The free end of said lever is fornedwith a slot s' into which extends a pin 0 on the side of the lever o'.'The length of the slot is such that when lever o' is first raised todisengage pawl 0 the pawl will leave the ratchet teeth before the pinreaches the upper end of the slot. Continued movement of lever 0' willthen result in raising the free end of the clamping lever s away fromthe rope, when the latter is free to be moved in either direction aroundthe pulley. In drawing the ladder upward the lever s acts as a drag andthe rope will, of course, render in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 6but in lowering the ladder said lever must be raised away from said ropeas in Fig. 7. The instant the pull upon the rope is removed the pawldropsinto mesh with the teeth of disk and the pin 0 erowds levers downupon the rope and' thus prevents said rope from rendering fai-ther in abackward direction.

In many instances the described pulley block provides a desirablesubstitute for the weight used in my said earlier patent and serves itspurpose equally well.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In combination with a scnttlea two-part ladder hinged as set forth, means for drawing said ladderthrough said scuttle, looking devices attached to the laddersubstantially to the lower ladder 'section and rove through as describedand means for Operating said said block, and clamping levers connected olooking devices as the ladder is raised and With said block in themanuer and for the lowered through said Scuttle, for the purpose purposeherein specified.

5 specified. RICHARD M. POWERS.

2. In combination with a Scuttle, a. two-part Witnesses: Iadder hingedas set forth, a pulley-block ALONZO M. LUTHER, Suspended over saidScuttle, a cable Secured JOHN STEINER.

